The King Of Thieves
by Lady Kina
Summary: venice, the place to be, the place to see, the place to steal something that could make you the richest sucker there. but it's not for one long haired thief who stumbles upon a precious cane and a boy who'll change his life forever. Yaoi. POSTPONED
1. Meeting

Disclaimer: I don't own it.

Kina: hacks and slashes die you evil fiend!

Kaya: Um...Kina...you know people are reading this right?

Kina: blinks Oh...hi...heh, sorry...was busy killing some messed up monster on a rpg I play.

Kaya: Uh-huh. Well, enjoy!

Warning: There will be yaoi. That is all.

-----

It was autumn in Venice when Yoh first heard of the king of thieves. The canals, gleaming in the sun, dappled the ancient brick work with gold. But the wind was blowing ice cold, reminding him that winter was fast approaching. Even the air in the alleyways tasted of snow, and only the wings of the carved angels high up on the roof tops felt any real warmth from the sun. the mansion in which yoh lived stood close to the canal, so close, in-fact, that the waves and that of the sea would wash away the causeway that Venice clings to, breaking the thin tread that binds the city to Italy's main land. He wished the sea would sweep away the house, the bridges, the palaces, and the people who had built so boldly on it's surface.

For the time being however, the city stood firmly on it's hidden wooden legs. Yoh leaned against his window and looked out through the glass. Surely, no other place on earth was more proud of it's beauty then Venice, and as he watched the people down below, driving their cars and walking their dogs, he thought of how boring life was.

But back to the subject at hand, the king of thieves... the police have been chasing him for months... kid goes around stealing money, jewels whatever. Yoh looked over at his dresser, staring at the photo of him and his brother when they were younger. He sighed, that was the only valuable thing he had. Nine years had passed since he had to leave the orphanage, his brother, and everything else behind.

He frowned as his step-father walked into his room, wearing his black suit like always. His expression told yoh that he wanted him to go to another one of those boring meetings of his.

'Yoh, please get dressed, the governor wishes to accompany us to the palace tonight.' His step-father asked, heading over to his son's closet to pull out an acceptable suit.

'Do I have to go?' Yoh asked, expecting his father to say no...but it was highly unlikely.

'Yes. You must.'

Yoh caught the clothes his father had tossed him, looking it over to see what he had picked.

'What if I don't want to go?' Yoh winced slightly when his father slapped him hard across the face.

'You are a Giovanni, whether you like it or not, you _will _take take part in everything I tell you to. Understand?' Yoh nodded, watching as his father left the room.

He hated his father, Lucifer Giovanni, a very important man to Venice. He was originally from Italy, the big boot, but he moved here for the beauty of things...and for politics. His ebony black hair was always tied back in a short ponytail and always had his diamond encrusted cane with him. He never wore normal clothing, always suits of either black or beige...he said it was natural for his type.

Yoh slowly started to get dressed, his mind going on how he hated the governor, especially when the bloat decided to hit him on the back as some sort of wacked greeting. He sighed, if it was a ball he was going to, he sure hoped his father didn't expect him to dance with anyone...especially not that peach girl.

-----

A long haired boy walked quietly down the hall, his long baggy pants muffling his footsteps. He headed towards the ballroom where he found Lucifer Giovanni talking to the governor. He smirked, this would be easier than steeling a diamond from a diamond store. He cocked his head to the side questionable

...Wait, where was it? If Giovanni didn't have his oh so special cane, then who did?

'Governor Delardie, I would like you to formally meet my son, Yoh.' Lucifer said, pushing the said boy forward. Yoh gripped the cane his father had told him to hold, he was nervous. The long haired boy bit his tongue, a kid had possession of one of the most valuable objects in the world and he was too chicken to go up there and take it.

'Yes, it's a pleasure, I'm sure.' Yoh said, shaking the man's hand before turning away, sticking out his tongue. The man's hands were so gross and oily from eating to many chicken wings. He frowned as he held the cane under his arm, walking under the archway and into the hall to find the bathroom.

Suddenly, he bumped into the long haired boy who stumbled back. Yoh blinked and found himself staring at his mirror image of himself except with longer hair. The long haired boy shook his head, holding himself up with his hands.

'Oh...are you alright?' Yoh asked, grabbing hold of the boy's wrist, pulling him up onto his feet. The boy nodded, rubbing his forehead before walking down the hall. Yoh followed him, curious as to where the boy was going and to why he was here. 'Um...Where ya going?' The long haired boy chose to ignore him as he walked into a room.

'I _was _here to get that cane you're holding but I guess you're not going to give it to me.' The boy said when he had closed the door, making sure no one would come in and arrest him for talking to some rich brat.

'What's your name?' Yoh questioned, holding out one end of the cane, letting the boy grab hold of it.

'Hao.' The boy said, pulling at his end.

'Well, Hao...I'll give you my step-father's cane as long as you take me with you and get me out of this hell-hole'

'Your asking of me a favor?' Hao asked, raising an eyebrow.

'You're the king of thieves, no? Well, I'm sure you'd get a lot of money if you had sir Lucifer Giovanni's son with you.' Yoh felt Hao tug on the cane, pulling him forward so that he was pressed against the other's body.

'Very well...as long as you don't complain about anything.'

Yoh rolled his eyes and nodded none-the-less, this Hao guy sounded a hell of a lot like his father.

-----

Yoh followed Hao down the alleyway, the only thing lighting the way was the flashlight hao had in his hand. He frowned, he had only been to this side of town once and that was sticking to the main streets, not the alleyways.

'Wait here.' Yoh heard Hao whisper before the two fell in silence once again. Hao had stopped at what seemed like a theaters back door because it had a performance schedule hanging next to the door. Hao knocked on it before glancing over at Yoh who was busy watching the rat that scurried around their feet.

'Who is it?' A voice asked through a small cubby hole.

'Who do you think it is? Open up!' Hao ordered, kicking the door. A voice groaned and the sound of locks being undone were heard before the door opened to reveal a short haired girl with a pumpkin marionette in her arms.

'Good evening lord Hao.' She chirped, moving aside to let her master pass. 'Wait, lord Hao, who is he?' The girl stepped in front of Yoh, lifting an eyebrow at the boy.

'Let him pass...' Hao murmured, tossing the cane to a little African girl who had started giggling for no reason.

'How did lord Hao accomplish getting the cane so easily?' She asked, looking up at the long haired boy who pointed towards Yoh.

'this, is Lucifer Giovanni's some. He did me a favor.' hao explained, motioning for yoh to follow him down the hall.

'You can have my room for awhile...' Hao said, grabbing the keys out from his pockets to unlock one of the doors that lined the hall. Yoh felt a hand take his and pull him into a room, noticing that the only source of light was from the fireplace.

The room Hao had brought him to was probably the ex-owners private suite. It was seemingly large in size and the only windows in the room where blocked by curtains. It was abandoned after all. A large couch was placed before the fire place, the floor was carpeted red and a bed, that looked like it didn't belong there, stood near one of the large windows.

Yoh smiled, it looked homier than his own room. This place held a certain warmth that made him feel at ease. Unlike his room, it was...spacey, to say the least.

'Why did you want to come with me?'Hao asked as he undid the buttons on his shirt, placing it on the dresser before working with his pants. Yoh looked away.

'I don't know...I guess it was because I didn't like the life I had. I always wanted to live a normal, carefree life.' Yoh said, sighing softly.

Hao rolled his eyes. 'You don't like living as a rich a wealthy bastard?' Hao questioned, tyeing the strings that held up his baggy blue pajama bottoms.

'No...I hate it, not once in all my nine years of being his son did I ever get to just go outside and play. It was always manners, etiquette and meeting with other people so boring you wish you would die right then and there.' Yoh scorned, catching the pajama's Hao had tossed him, frowning when he noticed Hao staring at him as if he was crazy.

'I'd love to live a life like yours...I wouldn't mind all that boredom garbage, I'd just be happy to have a proper room.' Hao sighed, turning around so that Yoh could change.

'But you get tired of it.' Yoh paused so that he could properly put on the shirt that looked a few sizes to big for him. 'Thank you for the clothes.'

'Uh-huh...I'll be back in a minute, I'm just getting something to eat. You hungry?' Yoh nodded at Hao who smirked and left the room through a different door.

Yoh flopped down on the couch, the king of thieves seemed to be someone totally different from what he heard him to be. Hao seemed, actually, pretty nice...not the rabid killer/thief he was supposed to be.

He lay down, the arm of the couch his pillow as he let his eyes close. I wonder what father is up to...he thought before drifting off to sleep.

Hao walked into the room and a smiled found itself creeping across his face. He had never noticed it before...but yoh looked an awful lot like him. He scoffed slightly at that, placing the bowl of soup that was supposed to be for Yoh's, on a tray that his little African friend would pick up later.

He's awfully cute, he thought as he lifted Yoh's head so that he could sit down. Yoh sighed and snuggled closer to the warmth hao emitted. The elder boy blinked, it seemed as if yoh had already made himself at home. Then he realized something, yoh made it feel as if they had been living together for years, even though it had only been three hours since they met. Maybe that was one of Yoh's gifts, to be able to make anyone feel welcome around him. Maybe having a general's son around wasn't such a bad idea.

OWARI!

Kina: Well there you have it, chapter one of my 40 page story...sigh...I'm happy.

Kaya: Congratulations...this is what, your third story so far?

Kina: yeah..it is...

Kaya: please review!

ARIGATO!


	2. Loser

Kina: It's been awhile I know, don't have to remind me. I've kind of lost track of time, well a lot of it. and have been very busy wih life. Over the past... 3 years ive gotten numerous messages on and on my hotmail asking/begging me to continue this story... so I decided why not.

Note; I dont write like this anymore. Nothing even remotely close to this, this actual chapter was written back in October of 2007. I'm kind of embarassed about it... since it reminds me of how horribly I seemed to write -or at least as far as I see it-. So I hope you all enjoy Chapter two. HAPPY NEW YEARS ALL.

-o-

General Lucifer sat silently at his office desk, his hands entwined and placed under his chin. He held a deep frown that made it seem that if he frowned any deeper he would have more wrinkles than any grandfather in Venice.

A knock came to the door and one of the maids walked in, one of her hands holding up the tray of food Lucifer had demanded her to get.

'Here you go sir, anything else?' She asked, placing the tray down on the top corner of the desk. She smiled slightly when her master just waved his hand at her.

'No, leave.' He said, watching as she bowed and left the room. Lucifer looked over his supper then glanced over at the picture of Yoh and him spending their weekend in London. That was when he had gone to the queen's tea party. He sighed, maybe Yoh just wanted some time to himself. Maybe Yoh hated his guts or.. he groaned and tossed the lamp from his desk at the wall, watching as it broke. He frowned and rested his head against the wood surface.

Yoh... where are you?

-o-

In the grand theatre, Yoh found it looked different than what he had expected it to be. Almost all of the seats had been taken out, some of their cushions lying in certain areas, in what he assumed was a bed. The upper rooms, where more privileged people like his father sat, they were converted into rooms, curtains of cloth providing it's owner with some privacy. The stage had boards that were missing and a hole in the corner, probably molded.

Yoh followed Hao down one of the aisles., his hands in his pockets because Hao didn't trust him. It had been three days since his arrival here and he knew everyone of Hao's crew. Hao had even offered him the option of manning the crew in and outs, considering how quickly he had come to know everyone. Perhaps not on friendly terms. He had taken the offer it was something to do, since for the last three days he had done nothing but wander around.

Hao took hold of Yoh's hand and pulled him aside when he was about to step onto a mouse trap. 'They say there are mice, so they set up these traps... please be careful.' Hao advised, smiling softly before continuing, letting Yoh's hand drop from his.

Yoh nodded, his eyes now glued to the floor, making sure he wouldn't step on any other mouse traps as he followed Hao into a hallway, eventually leading to a smaller room. He looked around, noticing that everything in the room was stolen from people and places in Venice. He also took notice of his step-father's precious cane leaning against an empty space one of the white wash walls.

He took notice of some of the other recognizable items. The hookah pipe the late king of Venice used in 1806, the crown of Julia; a gift to a wealthy generals' daughter and the sword of Alexander, used by Venice's' most famous warriors... all of these Venetian treasures' were wrapped in plastic, protecting them from the dust and mold particles that lingered in the room.

Yoh carefully ran his over a golden egg, his fingers tracing the embedded diamonds. He smiled, it felt weird to be able to touch such a forbidden treasure.

'Yoh...'

The said person looked over his shoulder at Hao who motioned to another door, most likely leading to another room. His belief was proved right when Hao unlocked the door and opened it, letting Yoh in first.

The room was bare, nothing except a key that hung from a hook in the middle of the wall facing him and a square wood thing on the floor. He gave Hao a questioning look.

'That key opens the lock you see on the wood hatch on the floor. Once unlocked, it opens up a path that leads me anywhere.'

'Did you make it?' Yoh asked.

Hao shook his head, 'No... we found it. This theatre was built over two hundred years ago. The Lord thought it a great idea at the time to build secret tunnels under the city in case invading troupes managed to get past their military forces.' He paused, 'Now it's left abandoned and forgotten so we use it to go from place to place stealing random, valuable objects. It's also how I got into the palace undetected by the guards.' Hao mused.

'But why do you steal? You obviously aren't in debt or work from some major mob leader. So why do you do it?' Yoh asked.

Hao took the keys off the hook, 'Because it's fun.' Hao said in mock hurt, tossing the keys to Yoh who easily caught them, 'You can watch over them for me... if you ever get recaptured by your father, you can always just go down to your basement and open the hatch behind the wine cabinet...'

'Wait... you've been in my house?'

Hao only smirked at him, motioning for Yoh to leave the room before relocking the door. 'Plenty of times, I suppose. How do you think I found out about your daddy's little stick?'

'You mean... you've been in my room too?'

'Yes. But you see, it's not my fault because if I had known that, that room was your room, I wouldn't have gone in there. But I didn't know that, that room was yours. So I went in and found you. It's actually your fault for not saying anything...' Hao explained.

Yoh gave him a confused look, his lips parting slightly in surprise. 'But i was asleep!' He finally argued, 'How in gods name do you expect me to tell you not to come into my room if I'm asleep?'

'Well... then you should have been awake...' Hao chided, walking into another room, the kitchen. He grabbed an apple from the bowl on one of the crates before taking a seat on another. Yoh shook his head, falling silent.

-o-

Since you're going to be staying with me for awhile, you're going to have to learn how to at least steal food.' Hao said as he walked through the busy marketplace streets.

'You're teaching me how to steal?' Yoh asked..

'Well, yeah. Unless you already know how to steal.' Hao said teasingly.

'... Of course I know how to steal.' Yoh told him.

'Fine then. Go steal an apple from Manatchi's stall.' Hao said, pointing towards a grumpy looking vendor who argued with a woman about how much twenty oranges would cost.

'But he works for my father.' Yoh noted.

Hao shrugged his shoulders, 'Oh well, you don't pull your weight, you don't eat. I'll be over near the fountain...' Hao muttered before walking away.

Yoh sighed and looked around. If only he could manage a diversion or something.

A man on his bike, chickens fastened to his back... he bit his bottom lip.

He ran at him, making the biker swerve, slamming right into Manatchi's stall. Before the vendor could notice, Yoh rolled some of the mans fruit into his sac before running off.

'HEY!' Manatchi's shouted, showing Yoh his fist.

Yoh smiled and tossed Hao one of the apples. Hao came alongside him, 'Yery good. But... using a diversion to get what you seek.' Hao said, biting into the apple.

'How long did it take you?' Yoh asked.

Hao looked at the apple, chewing for a moment, 'Seven.'

'So I guess that means you'll just have to find something else for me to do.' Yoh said, turning into one of the alleyways.

Hao shoved him up against the wall, licking his lips, 'Since you think you can do anything... tomorrow, I'm stealing a diamond ring from your daddy's friend, the governor. You're going to accompany me.' Hao whispered in Yoh's ear, nipping at his earlobe before pulling away.

Yoh frowned and wiped his ear, 'What if I don't feel like joining you?'

'Then I'll either kill you or return you to your father, making you spend the rest of your life as a loser.' He said, looking over at Yoh who mimicked him, sticking out his tongue.

'I'm not a loser..' Yoh murmured, yelping suddenly when he slipped on something. Yoh closed his eyes and grabbed onto the only thing he could, which in this case was Hao.

When he was sure he wasn't dead, Yoh opened his eyes to find Hao on top of him with his lips pressed against his own. He blinked slowly as he looked up at Hao who pulled away, frowning as he sat up.

'You... are such a loser.' Hao said, licking his lips.

Okay.. maybe he was...


End file.
